Insomniac Mini Book Reviews
I can't sleep, so dropping some mini reviews I've whipped up lately.
Published April 19, 2025
Sleep has been hard in the past days. Sometimes, I'll just go through a period where getting genuine rest is practically impossible. I can wear myself out with exercise, sure, or the burdens of genius perhaps, but then I'll still have days where my mind is racing even when body-tired. Then I just end up in this hazy in-between, and that's no good for anyone.
I had a friend visit last-minute, and I insisted on crashing on the air mattress: not for noble reasons, but because changing my sleep situation even remotely could actually help.
(I did, in fact, sleep better. Which means I should probably just give up on my bed entirely for now and go camping or something. But my bed is truly phenomenal, because writing product reviews for work means I've gotten to test all the best options.)
I've never been a great sleeper. My insomnia's not constant, but it is an occasional visitor. When I'm in the thick of a big project, or when I'm fully in a routine, it's easier; in liminal spaces like now, unconsciousness is a bit more elusive. Beethoven's Ode to Joy is stuck in my head, which makes the situation significantly more annoying.
I've been thinking a lot lately about happiness vs. relief, and which cues allow us to finally rest. That's a big theme of my book, of course, and there's plenty of the sleep / dream / rest / relief symbolism that only emerges from a character (or author, I guess) who can never quite let go of the need to do more for proof of some kind. In the meantime, a weighted blanket will suffice.
But that's a whole separate conversation.
I also discovered a camp counselor-esque "Warmie" — a stuffed black bear you can pop in the microwave (and it smells like lavender) — underneath my bed from where I'd hurled it once when I had company. That made me laugh far too much for what the situation required, and the unearthing felt stupidly prophetic.
The staff all got these stuffed animals because the kids adored them, and they were great for soothing homesickness. Now that "Bean" has made a reappearance, he is quite comforting to the sleeplessness and the omens. The thoughts. Oh God. The thoughts. And I obviously have to stay decked out in my Carolina Strong hoodie (which funded Hurricane Helene relief) for now instead of my nightgowns, because of course. A small physical connection to my book now that I'm done with revision.
Anyway, I've been putting together these little graphic book review slides to share on social media because I'm about to enter growth mode again for book-related promotion (since I'm no longer revising a book, let's make all this creative work sustainable, y'all) and that feels like an easy way to wade into visibility.
I'll update these with links tomorrow, but I hope they're appealing if you wanted to save or share them for when you're looking for your next read.
Some Recent Books
Some of these may be familiar, as some are fully reviewed on the blog already. But that's okay with me. I'll link them tomorrow.
Speaking of, maybe I'll pluck out a decent audiobook (I'm very picky about them, which will have to be another post) to lull me to some sweet, hopefully dreamless sleep. I'm a morning person in preference, so I'm already not thrilled about losing my Saturday A.M. to delirium; ideally, I'll make up for it by entering some sort of catatonic tanning fugue on a beach tomorrow.
